<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><p><span><b><span style="color:black">Guatemala Forum to Focus on Indigenous Issues</span></b></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;color:black"><br>
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<p><span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;color:black">@ </span></span><a href="http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2008/october/06/reg02.htm" target="_blank">http://insidecostarica.com/dailynews/2008/october/06/reg02.htm</a>
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<p><span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;color:black">GUATEMALA -
Participants at the Social Forum of the Americas will meet in the Guatemalan
capital to debate the indigenous peoples' rights, the defense of their
territories, which are threatened by transnational companies, and the situation
of children and youths.</span></span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;color:black"><br>
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<span>"The continental meeting is the propitious
framework to analyze the most pressing problems of the indigenous communities
and to create a regional common front, Rodolfo Pocop, one of the organizers of
the forum, told Prensa Latina.</span><br>
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<span>Several activities are being held, including the
continental meeting of children and youths, who are debating exclusion and
racism in that sector and whose conclusions will be presented at the forum.</span><br>
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<span>In addition, the Latin American Meeting on Mining
and the Indigenous Peoples' Rights will open on Monday to discuss autonomy and
free determination in the use of the land and its natural resources, Pocop
said.</span><br>
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<span>The leader of the Indigenous Farmers' National
Coordinator pointed out that a document containing the indigenous peoples'
stance on the association agreement between Central America and the European
Union will be handed over to the negotiators of the accord.</span><br>
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<span>They will demand respect for millennia-old
cultures and compliance with international treaties, including Convention 169
of the International Labor Organization and UN declarations.</span><br>
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<span>"Unfortunately, authorities make decisions
that neither meet the needs nor respect the rights of our communities,"
said Juana Batzibal, of the Center for Legal Actions on Human Rights.</span><br>
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<span>That is why we are forced to fight and defend the
Mother Land and to prevent that our lives and the future of our children be
destroyed, she added.</span><br>
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<span>The University of San Carlos de Guatemala will
host the Third Social Forum of the Americas from October 7-12. The meeting will
conclude with a mass demonstration on the streets of the Guatemalan capital and
a rally at Constitution Square.</span></span></p>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Sah Bittu,<br><br>Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics,<br>BMCC Road, Deccan Gymkhana,<br>Pune - 411004<br>Maharashtra<br>
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